The door of the store is locked, and the "announcement" of the transfer course is posted on the glass door. Photo by Ma Can
Once it was a city, but now it is empty Photo by Ma Can
Yangcheng Evening News reporter Ma Can Intern Su Yingqi Zhang Shunqiang
Recently, a number of citizens complained to the "Y-Reporter Gang" column that the well-known early education institution Mejim fell into the crisis of "running away", and some parents lost more than 100,000 yuan in lesson fees. The reporter's investigation found that at present, a large number of Mejim stores have closed in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and other places, and many parents have reported difficulties in refunding. In this regard, Mejim International Early Education apologized and said that it would coordinate the development of solutions. The Guangzhou education department also issued relevant reminders.
Parents complained: After paying tuition and not attending a class, the store was closed
This summer, Ms. Wang in Zengcheng was particularly troublesome, the early education institution for the children was closed, and the two children not only had no one to bring them, but also the tuition fees could not be refunded.
At the beginning, when Ms. Wang learned about the situation at the Mejim International Children's Education Center Zengcheng Aeon Mall Store (hereinafter referred to as "Mejim Zengcheng Store"), the teacher called the institution "a chain brand listed company, with a good brand, and you can also try classes for free in the early education center".
"It was really good to be on site, so I signed up immediately." Ms. Wang said that she began to pay nearly 20,000 yuan in tuition to the eldest and after taking 100 class packs, her family was quite satisfied, so she paid more than 20,000 yuan to the eldest in tuition, but before the second eldest opened classes, the store was closed.
In July, Ms. He, a citizen, received a notice from the teacher of Meijim Zengcheng store to close the store, saying that "the salary of the teacher in Zengcheng Center also has different degrees of arrears, and she hopes to protect her rights and interests with her parents." ”
As soon as the news came out, many parents were very surprised, because the store was still engaged in promotional activities when "618".
On July 11, Ms. He negotiated with her teacher to ask for a refund, but said that "the headquarters has suspended all business activities in Guangzhou at present, and there is no way to arrange a refund in the short term." ”
For a time, the Guangzhou mother's circle "earthquake", many people asked what the situation was. Ms. He told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter: "At present, there are more than 300 parents in Zengcheng Store who have entered the group to defend their rights, and the amount involved is more than 2 million yuan. ”
In the interview, a parent surnamed Zhong said that after his two children bought the course, under the recommendation of Mr. Meijim, he participated in the "old students bring new students to buy group activities", and then sent his two nephews to class, before and after the total cost of more than 100,000 yuan, now the other party said that he could not refund a point!
Reporter visit: the door of the store is locked, and there is an "announcement" of the transfer course posted at the door
Seeing that the refund was hopeless, Ms. He and other parents began to defend their rights and complained to the relevant departments in Guangzhou, but the relevant departments responded that they could not accept it for the time being, and suggested that they wait for the early education center to come up with a plan to determine that the early education institution could only be solved if it ran away.
At present, what is the situation of the Mejim Zengcheng store? On July 26, a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News visited the site and found that the Meijim Zengcheng store was empty. The reporter saw through the large glass door that the interior was dark, and express packaging, leaflets, stationery, etc. were scattered all over the place.
A blank "announcement" was posted at the door of the store to contact the store manager. The announcement said: "In the past three years, in the difficult environment of repeated school closures, Zengcheng Center has carried great financial pressure. Recently, due to various public opinion turmoil and sudden major changes in the outside world, it is difficult for the center to continue to operate. In order to allow children to continue classes, our center is stepping up the formulation of a transfer plan, and from August 5, the transfer processing customer service will gradually dock with parents to arrange the course. ”
In response, Ms. He said: "The announcement they made was not stamped, and no one listened to the phone calls on the announcement. Ms. Wang also told reporters that as of mid-August, there was no transfer plan, and the teacher had "lost contact."
In the interview, many parents said that if the Mejim Zengcheng store closes at a loss due to the industry downturn, everyone may still understand, but deliberately lures parents to renew in the form of preferential promotions, and then suddenly closes and stops operating. They considered it "unacceptable and fraudulent."
An employee of an infant care shop on the floor of the same business district told reporters that the employees of the early education center of Meijim Zengcheng store had moved away a week ago. At the scene, the Yangcheng Evening News reporter called the store manager, but no one answered.
The agency responded: issued a statement apologizing and saying it coordinated the development of a solution
In addition to the difficulty of refunding a large number of students, Mejim's teachers and staff are also facing a situation of unsuccessful salary bargaining. According to incomplete statistics, since the beginning of this year, at least 7 stores of Guangzhou Mejim Center have announced the closure, and according to its official website, at present, there are only 8 Mejim centers in normal operation in Guangzhou.
On August 9, in response to the "closure of some franchise centers", Mejim (China) headquarters issued a statement apologizing through the WeChat account "Mejim International Early Education", and said that it would coordinate the development of solutions.
The statement said that due to the overall macroeconomic recovery is less than expected and the industry environment and other factors, some Mejim franchise centers in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu have made the decision to merge stores and close stores as independent operating entities, and Mejim (China) headquarters apologizes for the inconvenience caused to the parents of members by the closure of the above centers!
Mejim (China) headquarters will coordinate the above-mentioned centers to formulate corresponding solutions for members' unfinished class time according to the actual situation, and will maintain communication with the center, continue to pay attention to follow-up progress, and strive to protect the legitimate rights and interests of members to the greatest extent.
In response to the "wave of store closures" reported by parents, Meijim said, "In order to cope with the changes in the external market operating environment, Meijim has carried out corresponding operation adjustments and layout optimization in some areas of Meijim, the purpose of which is to cope with the operating pressure in the current market environment and enhance the ability to resist market risks." ”
The China Consumer Association reminds: Be wary of training course refund scams
Coincidentally. Recently, citizen Ms. Chen reported to the Yangcheng Evening News that on May 31, 2023, she paid a six-month lesson fee of 19,625 yuan at the Colorful Diandian Zhuhai Huafa (Century City Park) store, and agreed with her to enroll in mid-August. However, before the child could attend a class, on July 24, the institution closed its doors.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the store's headquarters, Guangzhou Colorful Diandian Education Technology Co., Ltd., responded to reporters: "It is being followed up and solved, and will bear relevant responsibilities." ”
How to avoid the trap of education and training institutions? What are the security risks to be aware of? On July 12, the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Education issued a reminder saying that attention should be paid to choosing institutions within the white list of offline and online off-campus training institutions announced on the "National Primary and Secondary School Students Off-campus Training Institution Management Service Platform" and the "National Off-campus Online Training Management Service Platform". At the same time, it should be noted that the one-time payment of training fee does not exceed 5,000 yuan, and the time does not exceed 3 months or 60 class hours.
In addition, the China Consumers Association issued a document on June 7 saying that recently, criminals have committed fraud in the name of training course refunds, which is seriously harmful.
According to the China Consumer Association, criminals first followed up when the training institution reported suspected business contraction and the capital chain was broken, creating anxiety for consumers to "worry that they cannot refund fees". Then impersonate government departments, consumer associations, training institutions, etc., forge red-headed documents of government departments or enterprises, tell the victim's detailed information by phone or text message, gain initial trust, and then induce consumers to apply for refunds as soon as possible to avoid losses on the grounds that they can handle refunds for consumers, and then criminals pull consumers into the "refund group" of multiple people, and ask consumers to pay additional fees before returning refunds.
The China Consumer Association said that when receiving calls, text messages and documents claiming to be the staff of training institutions or other relevant units to handle refunds, they must remain vigilant. If you encounter unclear matters, you can directly consult with the education department, market supervision department, public security organ, and consumer association.
Source: Yangcheng Evening News